1. Field of the Invention
Present embodiments generally relate to a power cord for medical equipment which is movable to and from various locations. More specifically, present embodiments are related to power cords with integral location tracking hardware installed on or in the cord allowing instantaneous location information for any device the cord is connected to.
2. Description of the Related Art
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufacturers or users to track certain medical devices which are utilized in the medical field in order to ensure that they may be promptly located once into commercial distribution. This may facilitate notifications and recalls of medical equipment ordered by the FDA which otherwise may cause serious risk to health if not located promptly. Manufacturers must adopt a method of tracking devices where failure would be reasonably likely to have serious, adverse health consequences or if the device is a life-sustaining or life-supporting device used outside of a device-user facility.
For example, the FDA has issued orders to manufacturers on devices which function as breathing frequency monitors, continuous ventilators, DC-defibrillators and paddles and ventricular bypass (assist) devices. Tracking augments the FDA's authority to order mandatory recalls and require notification of health professionals and patients regarding unreasonable risk of substantial harm associated with a device. Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) provides further information on tracking requirements which are set forth by the United States Federal Government.
The current method of scanning equipment for purposes of locating or tracking involves scanning of a piece of equipment then subsequently moving the equipment to a location where it is intended to be used. However, in some circumstances, equipment may be moved without being scanned so that it ends up in an alternate location than recorded by the scanning process. Further, it is also somewhat time-consuming to require manual scanning of each piece of equipment each time the equipment scans into a storage area or scans out for movement to a location for use.
Further, once scanned, the hospital or health care provider staff, for example, may be required to go to a separate database to look up the location where the equipment is supposed to be located although such listing or recordation may not be accurate. Accordingly, there is a need to overcome these and other deficiencies while meeting at least the desired goals described above, including, but not limited to, improved scanning of equipment and ability to locate the equipment.
The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound.